In late January 2011, business leaders from around the world met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the 5th annual Global Competitiveness Forum and of the many issues tackled UFOs and extraterrestrial life was one of them. Now they have put videos of the event on YouTube for all to see. You can view them below.

World Leaders such as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton attended the conference, although they did not attend the UFO portion of the event. Leaders in UFO research were on hand to discuss its validity and potential for the advancement of global business. Jacques Vallee, a computer scientist, venture capitalist and long-time UFO researcher was among the speakers, as well as physicists, Dr. Michio Kaku and Stanton Friedman, author and journalist, Nick Pope, who worked for the UK Ministry of Defence investigating UFOs, and Dr. Zaghloul El Naggar, an accomplished and well respected professor of earth sciences. The UFO section of the event was called Contact: Learning from Outer Space, and was moderated by Harvard business professor, John Quelch.

The website for the event describes the UFO portion as:

Psychological and socio-cultural assumptions and preconceptions constrain us to a large extent, and shape our views of the universe so that we are inclined to find what we are looking for, and fail to see what we are not. Using knowledge gained from research in the fields of Ufology and the search for extraterrestrial life, what might we possibly learn about hindrances to innovation in other areas of inquiry?

The sponsor of the entire event, by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), describes itself as the “guardian angel” of business in Saudi Arabia. An impressive and important event, their website describes the event as:

The Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF), the only event of its kind, is an annual meeting of global business leaders, international political leaders, and selected intellectuals and journalists brought together to create a dialogue with respect to the positive impact organizational and national competitiveness can have on local, regional and global economic and social development. It was founded in 2006 by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), and is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under the patronage of HM King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Jacques Vallee's presentation. (image credit: GCF2011)

Here are videos of the UFO portions of the event.

Jacques Vallee: General Partner, SBV Venture Partners

Michio Kaku: Professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York, Host of Sci Fi Science on the Discovery/Science TV Channel

Nick Pope: Author, Journalist

Stanton Friedman: Nuclear Physicist, Lecturer, Author

Zaghloul El Naggar: Professor of Earth Sciences

For more on the GCF you can visit their official website here. To watch more videos from the event you can visit their YouTube page here.